Editor, The Times:
There will be no pensions or benefits in the future.
I keep hearing this statement and I ask myself, why do people say this? And, even more, why do people accept this as a given?
Though the violence and death has been deplorable I sometimes feel envious of the people in Egypt and Turkey. The have drawn a line in the sand both figuratively and, in the case of Egypt, literally. Whether it’s the attempt to wrap their women in full length burkas or turn a popular park into a strip mall, enough is enough — take it to the streets.
Meanwhile we brain dead sheep that call ourselves Canadian citizens sit about slack-jawed as Stephen Harper dismantles the Canada that, while certainly not perfect, is (or should I say was) better than anything that Harper with his majority is delivering or can deliver.
Rob the old pensioners of two years. If a lab finds infection in farmed fish, decertify the lab. I could go on and on. Stephen Harper’s Mussolini-style corporate neo-fascism is so in your face yet, if an election were held tomorrow, judging by B.C.’s recent election, voters would stumble to the polls to give Harper and Co. an even larger majority.
Maybe I’m being too hard on my fellow Canadians. Perhaps what we need is a real kick below the belt such as our American cousins south of the border received. There, due to the collapse of the housing market followed by complete failure of the American banking system (rescued by one of the biggest doses of socialism ever), the American Dream became a distant speck of memory for millions, and woke the Americans up.
Then, of course, one hears little or nothing about how this giant Moloch of failed free market capitalism is still existing on life support.
And if it takes the destruction of Canada’s safety net — keep feeding the babies into the fire.
Unless the citizens of Canada wake up before it’s too late!
Dennis Peacock
Clearwater, B.C.